The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in HEVs use one or more propulsion systems to provide motive power. The propulsion systems include an electric system that receives power from a battery pack. A battery pack typically includes one or more battery modules that each includes a plurality of high-voltage cells (or batteries) such as lithium ion cells. The cells are electrically connected to one another and mechanically linked together to form a self-supporting assembly.
Battery packs have been developed that include hardware such as endplates, sideplates, and insulators for grouping battery cells into one or more battery modules. The endplates and sideplates are placed around a plurality of cells to band the cells together. Module hardware such as the endplates, the sideplates, and the insulators increase the size, the mass, and the material cost of the battery packs. In addition, the module hardware increases the amount of labor required to assemble the battery packs, which increases the labor cost associated with assembling the battery packs.